William Hill Online Acquisition Completed

William Hill is now the proud owner of William Hill Online (WHO) after completing its acquisition of Playtech’s 29% share of the operation. The £424m ($557 USD) deal is the completion of a joint a venture that started back in 2008.

It’s also providing a very handsome return on investment for Playtech, which saw its initial seed money grow three and a half fold over the last five years. Playtech will also be receiving a chunk of WHO’s Q1 2013 earnings.

To pay for the acquisition, William Hill is putting forth a whopping £375m ($573m USD) in stock certificates, as well as £50m ($76m USD) in credit.

Acquiring full ownership of their online operations is just one of many recent moves by William Hill to beef up their online presence. Late last year the company, along with their partner GVC, purchased Sportingbet for £485M ($741 USD). In that deal, William Hill took over Sportingbet’s Australian and, some of, their Spanish operations.

At the time, William Hill CEO Ralph Topping said:

This is bang in line with our strategy. More online revenues, more international revenues and more regulated revenues…We are laying the foundations today of success for the next 30 years

Investors have reacted positively to the announcement, William Hill (WMH.L) stock prices by almost 1.5%.

What do you think of William Hill’s online growth? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.